It is generally known that plate heat exchangers offer efficient transfer of heat from one fluid to another in a relatively small volume. Heat exchangers are typically assembled from a multitude of individual or welded pairs of plates called a plate pack that are sealed around an outer edge with a gasket material. The plate pack is compressed in a frame of the heat exchanger in order to form the seal between the plates or plate pairs.
The compression is applied uniformly across the surface of the plate pack in order to prevent leakage from the seal and reduce damage to the plates. Because of the size of the plate pack and the amount of pressure applied, the plate pack is sandwiched between two thick metal pressure plates called the head and follower that are used to distribute the load evenly.
In fact, the head and follower of large heat exchangers may be very large. Due to the amount of metal, the head and follower are expensive to make and ship, difficult to machine, and inconvenient to work with. Unfortunately, no conventional heat exchangers address these issues.
Accordingly, there is a need for reducing expense and the weight of the head and follower of a heat exchanger to address the problems described above and/or problems posed by other conventional approaches.